Monday, April 16, on DC Emancipation Day, despite dangerous wind gusts and rain, thousands of us marched to the Capitol to demand our rightful vote in the People’s House. Even the mainstream media had to acknowledge it was the largest demonstration for DC Voting Rights in three decades.

Then Thursday, as if on cue, the House passed HR 1905, granting the District a real vote. With the firm support of the Democratic leadership, It was more or less a party-line vote, 241 to 177, with just 22 principled Republicans breaking ranks to vote Aye. Once again, the Democratic Party proved itself to be the party of civil rights and real democracy.

And to do it, we needed all of you! The more than 100 of you who volunteered to march have proven yourselves voting rights advocates. And those of you who worked so hard to recruit those 100+ people have proven yourselves leaders in this campaign.

We have forged closer bonds with the DFA community, which supported us selflessly in this campaign. We are indebted to Jim Dean, Tom Hughes, Charles Chamberlain, and Sheri Divers at DFA, and to our DFA allies around the country: from San Francisco to New York City; Birmingham, AL, to Columbia, MO; Salt Lake City, UT, to Louisville, KY; Pittsburg, PA, to Bettendorf, IA; Bloomington, IN, to Overland Park, KS. Our DFA brothers and sisters called and emailed their Representatives to urge them to support the DC Voting Rights Act — and the great majority of them did.

So now is the time to celebrate, give thanks, and to express ourselves. So won’t you write a letter to the editor of the Washington Post and other area newspapers and tell them how you feel? Send a copy of your letter to dcfordemocracy@gmail.com, so that we can share!

We look forward to seeing you at the May Meetup on Wednesday, May 2. We have much to celebrate and plan!